Despite coming from another realm entirely, there were some faeries which preferred to make Auradon their permanent home, a concept that Sevastyan Petit found to be quite weird. Sure, the more time he spent in Auradon, the more he understood its charm and draw, but overall he found it wanting in comparison to the home land of the faeries. He didn’t understand how someone could trade a magical world of such splendor for the far more dull and mundane Auradon, their chocolate confections aside. But no matter what he thought, it was becoming more and more popular for some of his people to build forever homes and form symbiotic relationships with the people of Auradon. One such well known solitary faerie was the Fairy Godmother Ms. Dee, whose magic had helped the meek and timid Cinderella rise above her abusive family to become a royal. Everyone from across the human and faerie realms were familiar with such a story. But it wasn’t the Fairy Godmother which piqued Sevastyan’s interest.
As he stood in the parlor of the Godmother’s home, the faerie prince plucked a book laid out, pulling it up and slowly turning the pages as he leaned back on the couch. Magic spells lined every page, each one more complicated than the previous. He let out a low whistle as he read about the transfigurative charms that he figured Godmother used to change a pumpkin to a carriage for Cinderella’s trip to the ball. Fascinating. He was quite engrossed in the book that he’d almost missed it when the door to the parlor opened and in came the person he had actually called upon. Daphne Dee, a most curious creature. When he’d heard that the Fairy Godmother had had a protege, a relative who was also learning faerie magic, he was shocked to say the least. Not by the notion — it had made sense for one of the most notorious of their kind to have a pupil to follow in their footsteps. It wasn’t that at all.
Rising and bowing in greeting, Sevastyan stood to his full height and observed the part-faerie before him with bemusement. “Miss Dee, am I correct?” He asked with a raised brow. He set aside the book he’d borrowed and crossed to where she stood, half listening if she was greeting him back and walking a slow circle around her. One arm was crossed over his chest, the other hand stroking his pointed chin. “How interesting,” he commented as he walked about her and came to face her front again. “No wings… unless they are quite well bound beneath your dress,” he’d spoken his thoughts out loud, not exactly addressing her with his commentary. It was definitely rude and not like Auradon custom to appraise someone like this but the faerie prince was very surprised by the person before him.
“Please forgive my rude manners. It is a poor habit I learned from my mother, or so my father says. She stared at him rather funnily when they first met. She hadn’t realized she was faerie herself, you see. Imagine one’s surprise at being the only tiny person they knew their whole life and suddenly meeting a tiny man with wings. Very peculiar indeed,” he said with barely rosy cheeks and a lilting laugh. “I didn’t know it was quite possible for a faerie and a human to join together and create a part magical being. Though I suppose that if gods of Olympus can have demichildren with mortals then so can we. But, my, isn’t it fascinating. You are a very rare creature, mademoiselle.” He laughed easily, shaking his head.
“I promise I did not come here to question your lineage or appearance or anything. I like to make it my business to befriend the faeries that live within the Vale or Auradon, if they so choose to make a permanent residence of the latter, and as I understand it you are natural born of this kingdom, am I correct? If that’s the case then I feel it my duty to make sure to introduce myself and make myself at your disposal, as a good prince would do. Miss Dee, I am Sevastyan Petit, the crown prince of the faeries. And as your…Grandmother? Grandrelation?” He wasn’t quite sure if he knew the proper idea of her relation to the Fairy Godmother, though he was sure they were blood related.
“As the Fairy Godmother is a rather important member of our court, I felt that we should become better acquainted. I believe we may come to work closely together in the future. So in the spirit of this ‘social season’ and its many traditions, I wondered if you may be willing to take a turn in the ton with me? I‘m afraid I’m still quite new to this land and admittedly have a tendency to get lost in this great city. They sure did built it to be rather confusing. I think it’s best to get lost in good company, wouldn’t you agree?” @daphne-dee
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Daphne Dee did not get gentleman callers anymore.
She’d gotten a few here and there in her first season, petering out into two by the end of her second. She had rejected both. There had been none since. That was years ago. Thus she’d stopped preparing for them. She hadn’t retained a chaperone, hadn’t worried about waking up early to dress for the day, and certainly hadn’t walked around her lodgings in her finest day attire. She had settled into her spinsterhood, and had adjusted her life accordingly.
However, she did get the occasional visitor in the form of the young genie, Abraham Mariner. He was her very best friend, and she’d never felt the need to impress him. They had already seen each other at their worst, suffering due to magical failures or romantic rejection. There was therefore no need for her to change from her painting attire, her smock still tightly wrapped around her as she rushed over from where she had set up to work for the day.
Having received word that she had a visitor that day, she had assumed that it would be he waiting in the parlor. She entered the room with that certainty, immediately launching into a quick, “Abe, I don’t see why-” before she stopped short.
She had never seen this man before.
And what was it with strangers picking up spellbooks? What power did they hold over curious minds?!
“Oh, I-” she started then, not given time to apologize before her name was falling from the male’s lips as a question.
“Yes, I am Miss Daphne Dee. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mister...?” she inquired, quickly moving to untie and shed the smock that her been covering her light blue day gown. She had not participated in the full ritual of a societally acceptable visit for quite some time, but she still knew what was proper and what was not, and thus far... neither party in the room were particularly successful. She due to her casual entrance and he as he circled her, studying her in a way that made her feel like quite the oddity.
Narrowing her eyes as she tried to place the male, she offered a short “no, I have no wings, and I must ask that you cease your assessment,” moments before he spoke up again, and the conversation only grew more peculiar.
Who was this man and why had he come to call on her? Was it simply to gawk at the quarter (at best) faerie? Given the clues that followed his apology, along with his ethereal good looks, it was clear he was likewise a faerie (though clearly not a distant one), but she found his words to be odd. She felt both complimented and alienated all at once, and she could not help but feel that she was missing something.
His proper introduction moments later filled in those blanks.
“Prince Sevastyan,” she curtsied reluctantly, unsure of if it was really necessary given her lack of experience with any member of the faerie court beyond the Fairy Godmother. Her instincts were screaming at her to treat him how she would anyone else, but his title suggested some amount of decorum was necessary. “Please excuse me for not knowing who you were, but... I am entirely unfamiliar with you or the Vale. I have only been made aware of enough to keep my magical education moving forward. You are correct, to my knowledge I was born and raised in Auradon, and am of a distant relation to the Fairy Godmother.”
The invitation he’d extended was just as big of a shock to her as his presence in general, but with only a moment’s mental deliberation in her mind (she did have to start her latest piece for the opera within the next day or so and had several hours of outlining in her immediate future), she found herself nodding in response to the proposition.
“I have never gotten lost here, but would be thankful for the walk. I believe that we have much to discuss, and I’ve been told I give a good tour.”
Gesturing towards the door she’d just recently come through, she hoped that he would take the cue and be the first to head out. She needed to see if she could conjure up a chaperone to walk 20 paces behind them, as per society’s recommendations. Surely there was a mouse somewhere...